Sapodilla 783 



12 to 25 mm. long, and grooved. The flowers open in spring or autumn, in clus- 

 ters, on slender, hairy, drooping pedicels i to 3 cm. long; their calyx is hairy, 

 about 6 mm. long, the 6 lobes lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate, sharp-pointed ; the 

 corolla is 1.5 to 2 cm. across, hght greenish yellow, its 6 lobes spreading, linear-lan- 

 ceolate, sharp- pointed, entire or but shghtly toothed, the appendages petal-Hke but 

 only half as long as the corolla-lobes; staminodes small, triangular; stamens shorter 

 than the corolla; ovary hairy, tapering into the elongated, stigmatic tipped style. 

 The fruit persists on the branches for some time; it is stout-stalked, depressed 

 globose, about 3 cm. in diameter, brown and roughened, tipped by the thick, per- 

 sistent style and subtended by the persistent calyx; its flesh is thick, spongy and 

 milky juiced; seed usually i, about 12 mm. long, bright brown and smooth. 



The wood is hard, strong, close-grained and dark brown; its specific gravity 

 is about 1.08. 



The genus is a tropical one with probably 40 species of trees or shrubs, occur- 

 ring in both hemispheres, several of which furnish edible fruits of sufficient im- 

 portance in the tropics to be cultivated. The sweet, milky sap of several species 

 is also used as food, and the concrete juice of one or more Central and South 

 American species is known in commerce as Balata gum. 



The name is Greek, having reference to the shape of the corolla. The generic 

 type is Mimusops Elengi Linnseus of the Malay region. 



VI. SAPODILLA 



GENUS SAPOTA (PLUMIER) MILLER 



Species Sapota Achras Miller 



Achras Sapota Linnaeus. Sapota zapodilla Coville 



COMPACT evergreen tree with a milky juice, native of the West 

 Indies or Central America and cultivated throughout the tropics for 

 its fruit. It has long been cultivated in peninsular Florida where it 

 has become naturahzed in some places, reaching a height of 12 meters. 

 It is variously known as Sapotilla plum, Nisberry, Ncesberr}^ Naseberr}', Nispero, 

 Chico, White sapotilla, and Bully tree. 



The trunk is straight, the bark dark brown, the spreading branches forming a 

 round-topped tree. The twigs are stout, rough and brown or gray. The leaves, 

 usually clustered near the tips of the twigs, are thick and leathery, alternate, ellip- 

 tic-oblong, pointed or blunt, narrowed or wedge-shaped at base, entire and slightly 

 thickened on the margin, dark green, smooth and shining above, duller, smooth, 

 with prominent yellowish midrib beneath; the petiole is slender, hairy, 0.5 to 2 

 cm. long. The flowers are on brownish, downy stalks, solitar}' in the axils of the 

 leaves; the calyx is covered with rusty-brown down, the 6 lobes ovate, blunt, in 

 2 series; corolla 6-lobed, whitish, scarcely longer than the calyx; appendages longer 

 than the stamens; anthers arrow-shaped; ovary obovoid, brown, downy; style 



